Church  Record  Series,  No.  2. 


DIVES  AND  LAZARUS 


Six  Studies 


By 
WALTER   C.  WHITAKER 

Rector  of  Christ  Ciiurch,  Tuslcaloosa,  Ala. 


^ 


:B52418 
W578 


Tuskaloosa,  Ala 

THE   CHURCH  RECORD 

I  898 


^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 

Division 

Section       ...A.;...*^.... 


Church  Record  Series,  No.  2. 


DIVES  AND  LAZARUS 


Six  Studies 


WALTER   C.  WHITAKER 

Rector  of  Christ  Church,  Tuskaloosa,  Ala. 


Tuskaloosa,  Ala 

THE    CHURCH  RECORD 

1838 


CONTENTS. 

I.  The  Ground  of  Judgment. I 

Thi  Key  to  the  Parable       ...        -  -  2 

Dives  not  a  Gross  Character       ...  -  3  ' 

p:;arthly  Accidents  and  Eternal  Character  -  4 

Selfishness  Blind  to  Stewardship      -       -  -  5 

II.  The  State  ok  the  Dead. 7 

The  Continuance  of  Personality  -  -  -  -  8 
Each  Soul  Goes  to  Its  Own  Place  ...  9 
The  Intermediate  State 10 

III.  The  Nature  of  Eternal  Punishment,     -    -    -     12 

Recognition  after  Death  -  -  -  -  12 
Hell  Internal  not  External  -  -  -     14 

God's  Judgment  Infallible       -         -         -       -     16 

IV.  Eternal  Hope.     --- 17 

The  Chasm  between  Life  and  Death  -  -  -  17 
"The  Spirits  in  Piison"  •         -         -         -     20 

Prol)ation  Precedes  Death       -         -        -       -     yi 

y.     The  Continuance  of  Affection.     -      .      -       -     32 

Dead  Roots  ?nd  Dying  Branches  -  -  -  22 
Degrees  of  Punishment  -         -         •         -     24 

Intercessory  Prayer  in  Paradise         -       -      -     25 

VI.  Evidence  and  Conviction.     .-....-     27 

The  Impotence  of  Miraclts  -  -  -  -  27 
The  Testimony  of  Revelation       -       -       -     •     30 


DIVES  AND  LAZARUS, 


PART    FIRST. 


The  Ground  Of  Judgment, 

Tlierc;  was  a  certain  rich  man,  which  was  clothed  in  purple  and  fine 
linen,  and  fared  sumptuously  every  day.  And  there  was  a  certain 
lieggar  named  I.azarus,  which  was  laid  at  his  gate,  full  of  sores,  and 
<lesiring  to  be  fed  with  the  crumbs  which  fell  from  the  rich  man's 
table.  Moreover  the  dogs  come  and  licked  his  sores. — .S7.  Litke 
/6: ig — 21. 

The  uarrati\e  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus  inav  l)e  rey^ard- 
ed  as  historic  or  as  parabolic. 

If  Christ  rehiled  an  actual  occurrence  the  smallest  details 
of  the  divine  hi'story  must  be  literally  true;  and  nothin<if 
can  be  deemed  iniimportant. 

If  Christ  spoke  a  parable  he  was  teaching  spiritual  truth 
in  the  clothing  of  an  allegory;  lie  did  not  profess  that  the 
event  actually  occurred;  but  tlie  relation  made  its  appeal  to 
man's  heart,  convicting  him  by  his  own  conscience.  Thus 
Nathan  aroused  David  with  the  story  of  the  ewe-lamb. 
Thus  Christ.  l>y  the  story  of  the  ten  talents,  impresses  on  us 
the  necessity  of  using  our  advantages. 

It  is  not  of  great  importance  whether  the  present  narrati\e 
be  looked  upon  as  liistorv  or  as  parable.  The  saiue  lessons 
are  yielded  in  either  case  1  he  popular  view,  however, 
may  tiie  more  convenientlv  be  adopted. 

At    the    outset    of  these  studies  we  must    hold    clearlv    in 


DiVKS  AXD     LAZARirs. 


xic'W  tl;c  nature  of  panibles.  Parables  are  cartoons;  not 
caricatures  but  pictorial  sketclies.  As  sucli  thev  teach  one 
central  idea  to  which  all  details  are  subordinate.  I>ut  in 
parables,  as  in  all  well-executed  cartoons,  every  minor  frai^- 
ment  has  a  meaninjj.  the  disregard  of  which  weakens  the 
pictm-e.  and  the  inti'.rpretation  of  which  must  be  in  harmony 
with  the  central  teachintr. 

TiiK  l\.i;y  TO  THK  I'akaiu.k. 

The  names  of  the  two  personaf^ros  of  the  narrative  J^ive 
the  key  to  the  parable.  Their  names  si<rnify  their  character. 
"Diyes*'  is  Latin  for  ••rich  man'';  l^a/.arus.  or  Klea/,ar,  is 
Hebrew  for  '"truster  in  (/od."" 

Dives,  as  we  may  call  him,  is  ilevoted  to  wealth  anil  the 
thincfs  obtainable  with  wealth.  Lazarus  is  dominated  b\ 
confidence  in  God  and  Cxod's  ways  as  just  and  holy. 

Dives  and  I^azarus  are  not  imn.      They  are  chfiractcrs. 

What  Christ  said  of  the  destiny  of  these  two  characters, 
was  not  said  for  the  satisfaction  of  curiosity  as  to  the  my— 
leries  of  the  unseen  world.  His  purpose  was  to  warn  men 
that  character,  not  circumstance,  determines  eternal  destiny. 

This  is  shown  by  the  incident  that  called  forth  the  stor\  . 
The  Pharisees  had  been  listeninj^  to  Christ  as  he  asserted 
that  men  with  hearts  bent  on  becoming  wealthy  are  unable 
to  please  (iod.  They  protested  that  Christ  knew  nothiny; 
of  the  subject  concerning  \vhich  he  spoke.  They  began  to 
be  very  facetious  at  his  expense.  "Being  covetous  thev  lU- 
vided  him."  It  was  then  that  Christ  spoke  the  jiarable  ol 
the  rich  man  and  La/arus. 

Such  l)eing  the  ()Ccasion  ol  tlie  paral)le.  we  cease  to  won- 
der, as  many  have  wondered,  why  Lazarus  is  so  subordinat- 
ed in  the  whole  nariati\e  thai  he  is  not  represented  as  say- 
ing or  doing  an\  thing  at  all,  cither  on    earth    or    in     -\lira- 


DivKs  And    Lazarus. 


hum's  bosom.  Christ  was  speaking  to  worldly  men  trust- 
ing in  their  worldly  circumstances,  and  he  fitly  made  a  man 
of  their  own  stamp  the  central  figure  of  the  parable. 

Dives  Nor  a  Onoss  CriAnACTKK. 

Traditional  interpretation  has  lilinded  men  to  the  real 
cause  of  the  rich  man's  perdition. 

Nowhere  is  it  intimated  that  he  was  an  adulterer,  an  ex- 
tortioner, a  liar,  an  idolater,  or  in  any  way  a  violator  of  the 
Decalogue.  If  lie  were  living  today  he  would  probably  be 
recognized  as  "one  of  our  most  highly  esteemed  townsmen, 
progressive  in  thought  and  liberal  in  purse." 

He  is  not  represented  by  Christ  as  being  in  torment  be- 
cause he  had  refused  to  give  succor  to  Lazarus.  That  idea 
is  ]-)urely  an  interjiolation  of  man,  and  is  utterlv  without 
foundation  in  the  parable.  Far  from  driving  Lazarus  from 
his  gateway  he  unhesitatingly  accepted  the  universal  custom 
of  the  Orient.  Every  day  he  sent  out  to  Lazarus  and  anv 
chance  beggars  what  scraps  of  food  were  not  consumed  at 
table.  Like  some  men  of  today  who  support  hospitals  with 
t lie  proceeds  of  wheat  corners  and  railwav  reorganizations, 
he  could  not  allow  any  sutYering  person  to  leave  his  door 
unrelieved.  From  the  latter  part  of  the  parable  itisevident 
that  he  knew  Lazarus  both  by  sight  and  by  name;  for  he 
recognized  Lazarus  afar  off  in  Abraham's  bosom  and  called 
him  by  name.  And  from  his  cry  to  Abraham  to  send 
Lazarus  to  succor  him  it  is  evident  that  on  earth  he  had 
shown  Lazarus  such  kindness  as.  he  thought,  merited  some 
return. 

The  commonly  accepted  exjilanation  that  Di\es  was  pun- 
ished for  his  hard-heartcdness  to  Lvazarus  is  untenable  1"or 
two  reasons:  1st,  It  is  contradictor\-  to  the  intei-nal  evi- 
dence of  the  subsequent  portion  of    the    narrative;    'Jiifl.     U 


DrvKs  And    Lazarus. 

has  no  sort  of  connection  with  the  tt-uchintr  that  the  parable 
is  intended  to  enforce,  viz,.  That  they  who  worsin'p  Mam- 
mon cannot  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

EAirriii.v  AcciDKN  rs  and  Etkknai,  Cm  a  i;  ac  ricn. 

Sometimes  it  is  representee!  that  the  rich  man  was  tor- 
mented mereiv  because  he  was  rich,  and  that  the  poor  man 
was  comforted  merely  because  he  was  poor. 

This  is,  practically,  to  adopt  the  anti-Christian  teaching 
tliat  material  creation  is  essentially  impure  and  contaminai- 
injr;  that  lucre  is  always  filthy  of  itself  and  not  because  of 
the  manner  in  which  it  is  secured. 

Is  it  possible  that  possession  of  worldly  goods  renders  one 
unfit  for  communion  with(j<id.^  Some  ofChrist's  truest  friends 
were  rich  men.  Certainlv  Lazarus  and  Xicodemus,  to  go 
no  further,  were  fit  for  communion  with  the  express  image 
of  the  Father.  But  also  some  of  Christ's  bitterest  foes  were 
rich  men.  Some  of  his  followers  were  j)oor  men  :  and  some 
of  his  enemies  were  the  oft'scouring  of  the  nation.  There  is 
nothing  blameworthy  in  the  possession  of  riches.  Thei-e  is 
nothing  praiseworthy  in  extreme  poverty. 

If  to  be  rich  is  to  be  sinful,  then  the  tramp  is  the  iiighest 
type  of  saint. 

Riches  stigmatize  only  when  they  are  unworthily  obtained 
and  dishonoral)lv  kept.  l*oyerty  is  honorable  only  when 
endui-ed  from  fidelity  to  principle.  I'nder  other  circum- 
stances riches  and  poverty  simply  register  ability  and  its  re- 
lation to  opporlum'ty. 

The  other  world  does  not  exist  in  order  to  level  up  world- 
ly joys  and  sensual  gratifications.  It  is  intended  to  receive 
immortal  souls  and  give  full  opportuiiit\  for  deyelopnienl 
of  character.  'I'he  earlhK  accidents  of  race,  age,  sex,  con- 
dition, en\irt)nment .    op[)ortunity,     possessions,     that     no\v 


Dives  and   Lazarus. 


prevent  men  from  knowinfr,  not  simply  one  another,  but 
themselves,  will  be  left  behind,  and  we  shall  know  ourselves 
as  we  are  known  by  God.  not  mistaking  our  possessions  for 
their  possessor. 

Two  of  the  same  condition  of  life  are  grinding  at  life's 
mill ;  one  is  taken  and  the  other  is  left.  Of  two  beggars  one 
goes  into  torment,  and  the  other  into  eternal  life.  Of  two 
rich  men  one  goes  into  the  region  of  everlasting  want,  and 
the  other  passes  through  the  needle's  eye. 

To  look  on  the  Unseen  World  as  but  the  place  where 
present  conditions  shall  all  be  reversed  and  men  shall  have 
full  recompense  for  all  they  have  suffered  on  earth  is  to 
assert  that  this  world  is  still  Satan's,  and  that  the  Devil  is 
apportioning  material  blessings.  To  look  on  the  Unseen 
World  as  but  the  place  where  proper  averages  of  enjoyment 
shall  be  secured  is  to  proclaim  that  our  professed  "spirit- 
uality"' knows  not  the  first  principle  of  Christian  ethics — 
Altruism — and  that  our  wisdom  is  but  a  wiser  worldly-wis- 
dom, which  is  simply  waiting  for  three-score-and-ten  years 
to  pass  so  that  it  can  grasp  selfish  enjoyments  of  infinitely 
greater  duration. 

Selfishness  Blind  to  vSrEWAaDSHip. 

It  was  selfishness  that  caused  the  rich  man's  punishment. 
He  was  absorbed  heart  and  mind  in  the  pleasures  of  earth, 
in  softness  of  apparel,  it  mav  be,  in  richness  of  living,  or  in 
the  more  intangible  but  not  less  real  luxury  of  mental  effort 
or  of  aesthetic  dalliance.  He  was  a  good  natured  man,  ever 
willing  (o  help  men  and  movements,  both  by  wealth  and  by 
influence,  so  long  as  he  was  not  called  upon  to  surrender  his 
favorite  pursuits.  His  possessions  were  not  held  as  trust 
funds  from  God,  to  be  used  in  doing  God's  will.  He  made 
his  own  plans  and  pursued  them  steadfastly,  resenting    anv^ 


Dives  and  Lazarus. 


interference  of  God's  in  interruptin<r  the  necessary  concen- 
tration of  enerjifv  bv  callin<i^  on  him  to  divert  an  equal  por- 
tion of  his  thought  and  aftection  to  the  work  of  bringing  in 
the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  He  abused  his  trust,  and 
took  men's  word  for  it  that  all  was  well  with  him.  And 
when  God  insisted  on  a  final  accounting  and  deprived  him 
of  his  stewardship  ;  lo !  he  was  a  bankrupt. 

Conceivably,  the  picture  might,  but  for  the  special  object 
that  Christ  had  in  view,  have  been  reversed.  Doubtless  in 
reality  it  is  often  reversed.  Sometimes  Lazarus  finds  him- 
self in  torment,  and  sometimes  Dives  is  carried  into  Abra- 
ham's bosom. 

When  a  poor  good  man  is  saved  his  salvation  is  due.  un- 
der Christ,  not  to  his  poverty  but  to  his  goodness.  When 
a  rich  bad  man  is  lost  his  perdition  is  due  not  to  his  riclies 
but  to  his  \\  ickedness'. 

These  truths  are  threadbare,  but  men  so  often  forget 
them.  We  must  hold  them  clearly  in  mind  as  we  study  the 
other-world  life  of  Dives  and  Lazarus. 


PART  SECOND. 


The  State  of  The  Dead. 

And  it  came  to  pass,  that  the  beggar  died,  and  was  carried  by  the 
angels  into  Abraham's  lx)som.  The  rich  man  also  died,  and  was 
buried;  and  in  hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments,  and  seeth 
Abraham  afar  off,  and  Lazarus  in  his  bosom. — .S"^.  Luke  i6:  22  and  23. 

Godliness  and  ungodliness  are  not  called  into  existence  by 
wcAlth  or  by  poverty.  God  allows  bad  men  to  become  rich, 
and  he  permits  good  men  to  become  poor.  Also  he  brings 
poverty  on  the  evil  and  gives  earthly  possessions  to  the 
righteous. 

It  is  of  the  smallest  possible  concern  to  God  that  a  man  is 
either  rich  or  poor  in  this  world's  goods.  But  it  is  of  the 
greatest  possible  concern  to  God  that  a  man  shall  use  to 
(jod's  glory  and  the  good  of  his  fellow-men  whatever  gifts, 
great  or  small,  he  has  received  from  the  Father  of  Lights  in 
the  way  of  bodily  strength,  mental  attainments,  spiritual 
vigor,  worldlv  opportunitv. 

God  measures  a  man  by  the  proportion  that  his  deed  bears 
to  his  opportunity.  The  widow's  two  mites  aid  little,  ab- 
solutely, in  maintaining  the  worship  of  the  Almighty,  but 
in  the  scales  of  God  they  far  outweigh  the  gold-pieces  of 
ostentatious  wealth. 

To  the  poor  man  that  trusted  in  God  and  to  the  rich  man 
that  trusted  in  his  riches  death  came.  We  will  go  with 
them  as  far  beyond  the  veil  as  Christ  permits  us  to  go. 
More  than  once  has  Christ  lifted  that  veil,  and  he  has  lifted 


8  DlVKS    AND   LaZAUIIS. 

it  that  rt'vcrence  may  look  ami  learn.  It  is  profitable  for 
lis  to  study  reverently,  without  conjecture  and  without 
superstition,  but  with  the  aid  of  that  reason  which  God 
implanted,  that  state  of  life  unto  which  it  shall  please  God 
to  call  every  one  of  us  not  many  years  hence. 

TifE   CONTINIIANCE  OK   PeRSOXALITV. 

The  first  clear  teaching  that  we  grasp  is  ;  That  when 
men  pass  out  of  this  world  they  maintain  continuous  con- 
sciousness and  distinct  sense  of  personal  identity.  Dives  is 
Dives  still.     La/arus  is  Lazarus  still. 

The  body  and  all  its  members  have  served  their  purpose 
as  vehicles  of  communication  with  the  physical  world. 
The  soul  lias  left  them  behind,  and  w'th  other  vehicles 
adapted  to  different  environment  is  in  communication  with 
the  spiritual  world. 

The  personal  being  that  is  not  discernible  in  the  crumbling 
body  has  neither  been  blotted  out  of  existence,  nor  (what  is 
practically  the  same  thing)  been  absorbed  into  an  infinite 
ocean  of  life  whence  shall  be  drawn  the  individual  life  of 
succeeding  ages.  The  ocean  wave,  rising  from  the  vast 
mass  of  tumbling  water,  having  form  and  a  name  for  but 
one  instant,  and  then  sinking  back  with  identity  forever 
past,  is  o;ie  thing.  The  human  soul,  coming  out  of  one 
eternity,  fretting  itself  against  the  narrow-bounded  coasts 
of  time,  and  moving  on  into  another  eternity,  is  another. 
The  two  are  of  dissimilar  fate.  The  wave  has  not  that 
subjective  life  apart  from  its  outward  form  tiiat  characterizes 
the  soul.  A  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms  has  not  those 
clearly  defined  boundaries  of  being  that  characterize  a  uni- 
fied organism. 

Neither  does  the  soul  remain  insensible  to  its  surround- 
ings iti  the  next  world.      Were  insensibility  the   soul's    fate 


Dives  axd  I.azarus. 


Christ's  promise  to  the  penitent  malefactor  would  have  been 
quite  meaningless.  When  we  speak  of  any  as  "asleep  in 
Jesus,"  we  use  the  figure  of  sleep  with  the  thought,  that  as 
men  rest  from  their  labors  at  night  that  they  may  be  fit  for 
the  duties  of  the  morrow,  so  the  rest  of  the  dead  in  Christ 
is  but  prelude  to  the  more  glorious  day  when  they  shall  be 
bathed  in  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness.  The 
thought  of  sleep  necessitates  the  thought  of  another  day  of 
fuller  life  ;  of  toil  today,  rest  tonight,  and  renewed  vigor 
and  increased  ability  tomorrow. 

Each  Soul  Goes  to  Its  Own  Place. 

The  next  positive  teaching  of  this  parable  is  :  That  the 
•ouls  that  go  out  into  eternity  do  not  all  go  to  the  same  or 
to  similar  state  and  place. 

This  plain  teaching  must  not  be  passed  over.  The  ignor- 
ing of  it  has  too  often  led  men  to  precipitate  themselves  in- 
to the  next  world  with  desire  and  expectation  to  escape 
misery  and  shame. 

But  in  this  world  it  is  not  change  of  localitv  that  destrovs 
shame  and  misery.  The  soul  carries  its  blighting  wretched- 
ness into  the  most  gorgeous  palaces,  the  most  picturesque 
scenery.  The  mind  will  make  a  heaven  of  hell,  a  hell  of 
heaven. 

Therefore,  even  had  revelation  been  silent,  human  ex- 
perience and  reason  would  cause  us  to  determine  that  a 
change  of  the  soul's  locality,  as  from  America  to  Europe, 
so  from  this  world  to  the  world  of  disembodied  spirits,  will 
not  change  the  man's  nature.  The  attempt  to  flee  from 
one's  shadow  is  vain.  Soul  character  cannot  be  laid  aside 
with  earthly-body.  What  a  man  sows  he  shall  reap,  from 
spring  to  autumn,  from  this  world  to  the  next.  He  that  is 
unjust  will  be  unjust  still;  he  that  is  holy  will  be  holv  still. 


lO  Dl\'ES    AND    I^AZ Alius, 

He  that  sows  the  seed  of  misery  in  this  world  shall  reap  a 
harvest  of  misery  in  the  next.  He  that  sows  theseedof  joy 
in  this  world  shall  reap  a  harvest  of  joy  in  the  world  to 
come. 

Many  a  godless  man.  upon  whose  coffin  the  undertaker 
has  inscribed  the  groundlessly  assumed  statement  (bought 
by  the  gross)  that  he  is  "At  Rest,''  has  found  out  the 
limitation  of  that  divine  love  which  proclaims  rest  to  those 
only  who  "die  in  the  Lord." 

The  Intermediate  State. 

The  next  positive  teaching  is  :  That  the  souls  that  go 
Out  of  this  world  do  not  go  directly  to  Heaven  or  to  Hell, 
but  are  in  what  is  called  "The  Intermediate  State." 

It  is  called  an  intermediate  state,  not  place.  None  can 
deny  such  a  state,  except  those  who  deny  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead  ;  for  the  first  state  of  the  soul  is  that  it  has  a 
mortal  body,  the  last  that  it  has  a  resurrection,  spiritual,  or 
immortal  bodv  ;  but  between  death  and  the  resurrection  it 
has  neither  bt^dy,  and,  perforce,  is  in  an  intermediate  state 
or  condition. 

It  is  a  necessary,  although  unimportant,  deduction,  that 
while  in  this  intermediate  state  the  soul  must  be  in  a  place  ; 
for  death  does  not  render  a  tinite  soul  infinite.  It  must  al- 
ways have  a  local  habitation  and  a  name.  Lazarus  was 
carried  into  a  place  called  "Abraham's  bost)m" — a  phrase 
which,  together  with  Paradise,  was  used  bv  the  Jews  to 
signifv  that  portion  of  Hades,  or  Hell,  which  is  occupied 
In-  the  l)lessed  dead.  The  other  portion  of  the  unseen 
world — the  place  of  misery — is  nameless.  It  is  merely 
stated  that  Dives  was  in  Hades  in  torment,  while  Lazarus 
, was  in  Hades  in  Paradise. 

This  i^lain  leaching  of  Christ's     directly     traverses     both 


Dives  and  Lazarus, 


sectarian  and  Romish  teaching  as  to  the  immediate  condi- 
tion of  the  soul  after  death. 

The  Romish  teaching  is  that  the  hopelessly  evil  goat  once 
to  Gehenna,  the  perfectly  good  directly  to  Heaven,  and  the 
vast  bulk  of  mankind  to  Purgatory  ;  and  that  in  Purgatorv 
they  must  for  indefinite  periods  suffer  an  anguish  different 
from  that  of  hell-fire  only  in  duration,  not  in  intensity.  If 
this  teaching  be  true  Christ's  promise  to  the  penitent  male- 
factor was  a  mockery;  Christ  himself  was  in  Purgatory 
(for  according  to  his  own  words,  wherever  the  thief  was, 
after  death,  there  also  was  Christ)  ;  and  the  words  of  the 
Spirit,  that  the  blessed  dead  do  rest  from  their  labors,  their 
struggles  with  the  assaults  and  triumphs  of  sin,  are  robbed 
of  comfort. 

Sectarian  teaching  is  that  Paradise  is  Heaven.  Yet 
Christ  was  with  the  thief  in  Paradise  on  Friday,  and  after 
he  came  back  from  Paradise  distinctlv  affirnied  that  he  had 
not  yet  ascended  to  his  Father.  It  was  not  till  forty  days 
afterwards  that  he  "ascended  into  Heaven,"  as  the  univer- 
sally recited  Apostles'  Creed  tells  us. 

Unceasing  misery  and  happiness  begin  immediately  after 
death,  but  Gehenna  and  Heaven  shall  not  be  reached  by 
any,  however  good  or  bad,  till  the  Dav  of  Judgment. 


PART  THIRD. 

The  Nature  of  Eternal  Punishment. 

And  he  cried  and  said,  "Father  Abrakaui,  have  mercy  on  me,  and 
send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the  tip  of  his  finger  in  water,  and  cool 
my  tongue;  for  I  am  tormentsd  in  this  flame."  But  Abraham  said, 
"Son,  remember  that  thou  in  thy  life-time  receivedst  thy  good  things, 
and  likewise  Lazarus  evil  things;  but  now  he  is  comforted,  and  thou 
art  tormented." — Sf.  Luke  i6:  24  and  25. 

We  have  now  learned  three  facts  concerning  the  life  of 
the  disembodied  soul  :  1st,  That  when  it  passes  out  of 
this  world  its  maintains  continuous  consciousness  and  dis- 
tinct sense  of  personal  identity  ;  2nd,  That  the  souls  that  go 
forth  into  the  Unseen  World  do  not  all  go  to  the  same  state 
and  place  ;  and  3rd,  That  the  souls  that  leave  this  world  do 
not  go  directly  to  Heaven  or  to  Hell,  but  are  in  an  interme- 
diate state  of  happiness  or  of  misery,  in  a  place  called  Para- 
dise or  in  a  place  without  name. 

These  three  facts  bv  no  means  exhaust  the  teachings  ex- 
plicitly given  by  Christ,  or  legitimately  and  necessarily  in- 
ferred from  His  teachings. 

Rkcognition  AKTKH    DHATir. 

It  is  taught  by  Christ  that  we  shall  recognize  in  the  next 
world  those  whom  we  knew  in  this  world.  Dives,  we  read, 
recognized  Lazarus,  whom,  of  course,  he  had  known  but 
slightly  in  the  flesh;  and  he  recognized  him  "afar  off." 

Two     lesfitimate     inferences    flow    from    this    statement  : 


Dives  and  Lazarus.  13 

1st,  That  since  mere  acquaintances  are  recognized  still  more 
clearly  shall  our  loved  ones  be  known ;  and  2tid,  That 
since  recognition  is  a  fact  of  the  intermediate  state  men 
carry  with  them  into  the  other  world  the  characterestics  that 
differentiated  them  from  other  men  and  rendered  them 
cognizable  in  this  world. 

These  characteristics  cannot  be  purely  moral.  Dives 
certainly  knows  very  little  of  the  character  of  Lazarus. 
Not  one  of  us  knows  the  character  of  even  a  loved 
one  so  thoroughly  that  the  summing  up  of  the  loved  one's 
virtues  as  revealed  in  absolute  truth  would  furnish  sulhcient 
data  for  identification.  Moreover,  countless  millions  of 
souls  have  the  same  character  ;  and,  though  seeming  to  dif- 
fer widely  from  one  another,  will  be  found,  when  viewed* 
apart  from  their  earthly  surroundings,  to  differ  from  one 
another  by  less  than  an}-  appreciable  distinction.  There- 
fore, even  if  we  knew  the  exact  character  of  the  one  we 
love  best  we  could  not  by  character  alone  distinguish  and 
recognize  him. 

There  can  be  small  doubt  that  the  disembodied  soul  will 
have  its  own  characteristics  strictly  answering  to  earthly 
characteristics,  and  perceptible  to  finite  vision,  despite  the 
absence  of  mortal  bod}-  and  physical  eye.  The  disembodied 
souls  of  Moses  and  Elias  had  form  when  they  appeared  on 
the  Mount  of  the  Transfiguration. 

Physical  characteristics  shall  doubtless  be  reproduced  in 
the  disembodied  soul  and  find  everlasting  expression  in  the 
spiritual  body.  "What  we  call  physical  infirmity  or  de- 
forniity  in  this  world  shall,  among  the  redeemed,  be  a  badge 
of  honor  and  the  passport  to  divine  affection.  The  scars  of 
a  brave  soldier,  the  defective  vision,  the  empty  sleeve,  re- 
veal a  manhood  incomparably  more  glorious   than    the     un- 


14  Dives  and  Lazarus, 

marred  beauty  of  a  cowardly  Adonis.  Jacoh  rejoices  at 
the  lameness  that  came  upon  him  al  Peniel.  It  is  better 
that  we  enter  into  life  maimed,  than  havinir  two  hands  to 
go  into  hell. 

Hell  Intehx al  Not  Exteux  ai.. 

The  next  teaching  tliat  emerges  is  that  of  the  nature  of 
eternal  punishment,  that  it  is  necessarily  of  mind  and   soul. 

Ihe  ideas  of  the  invisible  and  the  non-experienced  can 
be  conveyed  only  througii  imagerv.  As  we  speak  of  (iod's 
eye,  and  hand,  and  arm.  to  signify  his  knowledge,  protec- 
tion, and  power,  while  we  expressly  assert  that  God  has 
not  eye.  hand,  or  arm,  but  is  a  Spirit  that  Tiecds  not  me- 
chanical helps;  so  Christ  represents  Dives  as  calling  for 
Lazarus  to  dip  his  '^ finger'  in  "u-atcr"'  to  cool  the 
'"'' tongue' '  of  one  tormented  in  "flames,''  while  finger  and 
water,  tongue  and  flames,  as  we  know  vhem,  belong  not  to 
the  world  of  the  spiritual.  The  words  convey  to  oi'.r  minds 
the  impression  of  a  spiritual  suffering  as  intense  in  its  sphere 
as  the  physical  suffering  arising  from  fire. 

A  physical  hell,  the  mediaeval  hell  of  brimstone  and 
pitchforks,  is  utterly  opposed  both  to  reason  and  to  the 
divine  revelation  of  future  conditions.  A  hell  of  bodily 
suffering  has,  has  an  inevitable  corollary,  a  heaven  of  bodily 
pleasure.  The  antithesis  of  Dante's  Inferno  and  Jonathan 
Edwards'  Gehenna  is  Mohammed's  Paradise  of  Sensuality. 

Christ  gives  us  the  key  to  the  nature  of  eternal  punish- 
ment in  Abraham's  reply  to  the  request  of  Dives  :  '■'■Son, 
remember!" 

What  a  poet  sings  of  mortal  existence  is  true  of  the  soul's 
eternal  loss — 

"A  sorrow's  crown  of  sorrow 
Is  remembering  happier  things." 


I)l\KS      AM)    LaZAIU'S.  15 

Dives  could  no!  but  reincmber  that  on  earth  he  had 
deemed  riches,  softness  of  livinjj^,  self-indulgence,  the  chief 
good.  He  had  deliberately  set  as  the  objects  of  his  higliest 
desire  things  that  in  their  very  nature  must  be  left  l)ehind 
in  the  world  of  matter.  His  character  and  appetite  were 
developed  and  fixed  in  harmony  with  the  temporal,  and 
must  forever  remain  unsuited  to  all  else.  He  can  but  look 
back  on  them  now. 

While  retrospection  of  past  pleasures  adds  to  present  joy 
when  all  is  well  with  us,  it  adds  to  present  misery  when 
we  are  out  of  joint  with  the  world.  Our  present  condition 
colors  every  memory.  In  the  case  of  a  Dives  retrospection 
convicts  him  at  every  step  of  past  folly,  and  in  so  doing 
adds  to  the  fire  of  remorse. 

A  man's  life  invariably  sliows  what  he  considers  his 
••good  things.''  Brutes,  human  beings,  and  angels  are  ■.'.1- 
ways  pursuing  their  ••good  tilings.'"  We  give  (iod  the 
measurement  of  our  own  souls,  by  what  we  the  most  eager- 
ly seek,  and  the  reward  shall  be  strictly  according  to  our 
search.  If  our  chief  aim  is  pleasure,  we  need  not  expect 
to  gain  an  everlasting  crown  of  righteousness.  If  our  pray- 
er is  to  gain  human  applause,  we  may  as  well  abandon  all 
hope  that  God  will  give  it  the  slightest  attention.  We  shall 
not  find  anything  but  that  which  we  seek.  In  speaking  of 
the  Pharisees  Christ  gave  the  record  that  shall  be  every 
man's  :  "Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  they  have  their  reward" — 
that  for  which  they  strive. 

That  is  to  say  :  If  our  chief  desires  can  be  satisfied  by 
what  the  senses  or  the  earthly  affections  of  selfishness  can 
give,  we  shall  receive  our  reward  in  this  world,  and  in  the 
next  be  tormented  with  the  gnawings  of  satiety  and  im- 
possible longings.      If  we  are  satisfied     with     nothing     less 


i()  l)i\  Es    AND  Lazarus. 

than  the  praise  that  comes  from  (iod.  then,  whatever  we 
have  or  have  or  have  not  in  this  world,  we  shall  be  com- 
forted in  the  next  with  the  words,  "Enter  thou  into  the 
jov  of  thv  Lord." 

(jods  Julxj.mkn!-  Ixkai.lihle. 

And.  as  we  pursue  our  s1ud\'  of  the  parable,  still  another 
teachin<i;  comes  into  view — the  teachinj^  that  God  makes  no 
mistake  in  the  assignment  of  abodes  to  the  lost  and  to  the 
rede^'ined. 

The  rich  man's  prayer  shows  that  in  eternity  his  charac- 
ter is  still  unchanged.  The  awful  proof  from  experience 
of  what  on  earth  he  had,  by  his  life,  denied,  has  effected 
neither  moral  nor  spiritual  change.  His  Hrst  thoujjjht  i'.i 
this  world  had  been  for  ease  and  comfort,  without  reference 
to  his  heart's  condivion  ;  and  this  is  his  Hrst  thout^ht  in  tor- 
ment. Of  sorrow  for  his  past  life  he  speaks  not  one  word, 
lie  just  wants  to  j^et  rid  of  the  sting  of  remembrance,  the 
gnawing  of  remorse. 

lie  declares  the  character  of  manv  whose  highest  concep- 
tion of  life  is  to  be  free  from  pain  and  trouble  ;  who  drown 
sorrow  for  the  past,  if  men,  in  whiskev  or  business,  if  wo- 
men, in  pleasm-e  or  drugs;  who  have  no  sense  of  responsi- 
bilitv  to  (iod  their  Father,  and  men  their  brethren  ;  and 
whose  wliole  life  is  a  shameful  exposition  of  the  Devil-writ- 
ten text  :      "Everv  one  for  himself." 

There  is  eternal  punishment  and  men  sutfer  it.  But  no 
one  goes  to  Hell  save  the  irreclaimable.  If  we  could  once 
grasp  that  thought,  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment 
would  not  cause  us  to  criticise  God  so  severelv. 


PART  FOURTH. 


Eternal  Hope. 

And  beside  all  this,  between  us  and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed; 
so  that  they  which  would  pass  from  hence  to  you  cannot;  neither  can 
they  pass  to  us,  that  would  come  from  thence. — SL  Lu/ce  16:26. 

We  have  just  considered  the  first  part  of  Abraham's  re- 
ply, the  teaching  that  ptmishment  of  tiie  wicked  hereafter 
is  inevitahh.  Souls  that  can  be  satisfied  with  such  "good 
things"  as  the  world  gives  form  a  habit  that  can  have  no 
possible  satisfaction  in  eternity.  Annihilation  is  the  only 
conceivable  escape  from  the  torttires  of  memory  and  desire. 

The  Chasm  Between  Life  and  Death. 

The  second  part  of  Abraham's  reply  teaches  that  punish- 
ment iiereafter  shall  be  permanent.  Tiie  memory  of  the 
past  shall  remain  to  those  in  misery  as  well  as  to  those  at 
peace.  The  waters  of  Lethe  neither  rise  in  the  place  of 
wretchedness  nor  flow  near  its  borders.  Between  the  re- 
deemed and  the  lost  in  the  after  life  is  a  great  gulf,  fixed, 
and,  from  either  direction,  impassable. 

The  word  "gulf,"  which  in  process  of  time  has  come  to 
convey  in  popular  thought  the  idea  of  a  vast  separating 
cavity  filled  with  substance  that  affords  possibility  of  travel 
from  shore  to  shore,  has  no  such  meaning  here.  Transliter- 
ated from  Greek  into  English  it  is  "chasma,"  or  chasm  ;  and 
it  has  the  exact  meaning  given  nowadays   to   "chasm"    but 


iS  DiVKS     AN'D   I^APiAKUS. 

lost  from  "gulf."  A  chasm  differs  from  a  gulf  cliietlv  in 
this  respect  :  That  it  is  empty  of  all  that  makes  passing 
possible  to  man. 

The  word  "fixed"  is  the  precise  word  that  is  translated 
in  St.  Luke  9:51,  "steadfastly  set;"  where  it  expresses  the 
unalterable  determination  of  Christ,  now  that  his  hour  was 
at  hand,  to  go  up  to  Jerulalem. 

Therefore,  an  accurate  and  more  forcible  translation 
of  this  reply  of  Abraham's  is,  "Beside  all  this,  between 
us  and  you  is  a  great  chasm  unalterably  set." 

That  this  chasm  is  a  chasm  between  places  as  well  as  be- 
tween states  of  soul,  limiting  free  movement  from  locality 
to  locality  as  well  as  from  condition  to  condition,  is  suffi- 
ciently apparent.  Man,  whether  in  this  worll  or  in  the 
world  to  come,  will  always  be  a  finite  being;  will  always 
be  in  a  place. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  geography  of  Hades,  it  is,  after 
all,  the  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  Hades  that  gives 
significance  and  a  reason  for  being  to  the  metes  and  bounds 
of  its  respective  divisions.  About  the  chasm  of  place  we 
can  only  speculate.  About  the  chasm  of  character  we  find 
no  room  for  speculation  ;  we  find  certainty. 

The  great  gulfs  between  varying  forms  of  life  have  been 
crossed  ;  but  between  all  life  and  death  the  great  chasm 
that  is  set  is  unremovable  and  impassable. 

Myriads  of  inorganic  particles  combined  cannot  give  the 
germ  of  even  the  lowest  form  of  life.  The  verv  lowest 
form  of  life  never  becomes  death.  Life  may  disappear 
from  one  form,  but  life,  like  all  energy  is  indestructible  in 
essence,  and  is  permanent  tlirough  a  thousand  forms.  It 
may,  for  indcdnite  ages,  run  the  cycles  of  vegetable.  Ijrule, 
and  human,  but  it  never  crosses  the  chasm  that  separates    it 


Dives    and  Lazauus. 


from  death.  So,  on  the  other  hand,  inorg-unic  matter  may 
assume  conditions  of  infinite  variety  ;  it  may  be  brought  in- 
to what  appears  to  be  living  and  indissoluble  contact  with 
life;  it  may  itself  appear  to  be  alive;  but  at  the  last  it  dis- 
closes itself  in  its  true  character  as  lifeless;  it  remains  be- 
hind while  life  moves  on. 

Into  the  kingdom  of  life  only  the  living  can  enter.  The 
spiritually  inorganic  nature  is  spiritually  as  incapable  of  re- 
ceiving spiritual  joy  and  satisfaction  as  the  everlasting  rock 
is  incapable  of  material  perception  and  enjoyment.  ,St. 
Paul  atfirms  that  truth  when  he  says,  "Flesh  and  blood 
cannot  inherit  the  Kingdom  of  God  ;  neither  doth  corrup- 
tion inherit  incorruption."  Both  in  the  natural 
world  and  in  the  spiritual  world  we  ever  hear 
the  living  saying  to  the  lifeless  :  "Between  us 
and  you  is  a  great  and  impassable  chasm ;  so  that 
what  would  pass  from  hence  to  you  cannot,  neither  can 
that  pass  to  us  that  would  come  from  thence." 

This  fixed  chasm  exists  in  Hades.  Spiritual  life  and 
death  are  surely  more  pronounced  realities  than  physical 
life  and  death.  In  Paradise  are  tlie  souls  that  on  earth  died 
to  sin  and  were  alive  unto  God;  and  these  receive  their  an- 
ticipations. In  torment  are  the  souls  that  are  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins  ;  and  these  are  without  the  organs  of  spiritual 
appreciation. 

Against  Christ's  plain  teaching  that  these  conditions  are 
immutable  nothing  has  ever  been  urged  but  the  desire  of 
the  heart,  which  is  no  iirgument,  and  the  hardly-twisted 
testimony  of  a  few  obscure  lexis,  not  one  of  which  is  in  the 
words  of  Christy  and  all  of  which  are  susceptible  of  a  con- 
struction much  simpler,  much  more  obvi  )us  and  reasonable, 
and  in  entire  harmony  wit!)  tlie  Lord's  actual  words. 


Dives   and  Lazahis. 


It  is  ;i  fact  tliat  every  believer  in  what  is  called  "Eternal 
Hope" — a  phrase  which,  it  has  been  suggested,  can  mean 
that  what  is  hoped  for  eternally  is  never  received — and  in 
probation  after  death,  has  to  quote  as  authorities  the  Epis- 
tles of  the  New  Testament,  which,  compared  with  the  Gos- 
pels, he  himself  holds  to  be  cf  secondary  degree  of  inspira- 
tion, and  the  Apocrvphd  Jiooks  of  the  Old  Testament, 
which  he  holds  to  be  of  no  inspiration  at  all  save  on  the 
point  in  question. 

"Tjie  vShiuits  in  Prison." 

The  citadel  of  this  teaching  is  the  famous  passage  1  St. 
Peter  3  :i9,  wherein  it  is  written  that  Christ  by  his  Spirit 
went  and  preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison. 

The  assumption  of  ad\'ocates  of  "Eternal  Hope"  is  that 
these  spirits  were  in  prison — under  guard  in  Hades — when 
Christ  preached  to  th  im.  And  upon  this  assumption  is 
based  the  further  as.umption  that  Christ  preached  to  them 
between  his  Crucifixion  and  his  Resurrection,  and  that  the 
purpose  of  his  preaching  was  that  they  might  repent.  It  is 
strange  that  only  the  disobedient  souls  that  lived  in  Noah's 
time  received  this  preaching,  that  nothing  is  said  of  other 
disobedient  souls  that  they  shall  have  another  chance,  and 
that  the  hope  that  they  shall  must  rest  solely  upon  logic  and 
inference  ! 

If  any  one  were  to  wn-ite  to  us,  "The  judge  sentenced 
the  prisoners  in  the  penitentiary,"  would  we  understand 
that  he  sentenced  them  ^vhik  they  were  in  the  penitentiary? 
Would  it  not  be  plain  that  the  sentoice  preceded  the  in- 
carceration f 

Now  apply  a  similar  thought  to  the  passage  under  con- 
sideration.     "Christ,  by  his  Spirit  preached  to    the     spirits 


Dives  and  L.\zai?us. 


in  ]M-is()n.""  Dill  he  ])i"eac!i  while  they  were  in  prison? 
leather,  did  not  their  impris(>nnienl  ix'sult  from  a  i)rc\ioiis 
refusal  to  hear  his  preachinti^?  Tlie  s-pirils  ;;onin  prison  arc 
t'ie  very  souls  that  tlie  Spirit  of  the  Son  of  (rod  acting 
through  Noah,  a  .preacher  of  rii^hteousness,  had  in  vain 
c.aHetl  Id  repentance  while  the  Ark  was  a-preparing.  This 
sarelv  is  a  rational  interpretation,  and  it  is  in  thorough  ac- 
cord with  other  undisputed  facts.  The  sacred  reconl  tells 
us  that  Christ  went  into  l\u-adise  after  his  Crucilixion. 
Christ  jioniised  that  he  would  be  in  Paradise  with  the 
])enitent  malefactor.  W'e  find  no  such  promise  of  his  in- 
tended [)resence  with  the  impenitent. 

l*K()i5A'no.\  Preckdks  Dkatu. 

Christ".-,  explicit  statement  is  tiiat  men  shall  be  judged  ac- 
cording to  the  deeds  done  "in  the  flesh."'  Deeds  done  in 
tile  tlesh  must  be  done  in  this  w(udd.  Wliat  is  done  after 
the  flesh  is  laid  aside  sliall  not  be  the  criterion  of  eternal 
existence.  The  opportunitv  for  repentance  is  expressly 
limited  to  this  world. 

They  who  to  into  the  unseen  world  unprepared  for  com- 
munion with  Christ  shall  find  no  agency  there  to  prepare 
them.  Every  opj)(>rtunity  and  every  incenti\'e  possible  io 
(jod  is  gi\en  and  addeil  in  this  world.  Earth  was  the 
theatre  of  our  Creation;  it  must  be  the  phice  of  our  Re- 
(.lemption.  God  himself  appeals  to  men  to  say  whetljcr  the\- 
can  imagine  greater  deterrents  froni  evil  and  inciteinents 
to  good  than  are  furnished  in  this  life.  *'0  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem  and  men  of  Judah.  judge.  I  pray  you,  betwixt 
me  and  my  \ineyard.  What  could  have  been  dtme  nu;rc 
to  my  \ineyard,  that  I  have  not  done  in  it?"' — W'liat  more, 
indeed,  than  tlie  giving  of  his  Son  to  die  forr.s? 

And  God  announces  his    determination  :      'T     will     com- 
mand the  clouds  tliat  they  rain  no    rain     upon     it."'      Since 
tlie  life  is  grotesque  and  lawless,  let  life  cease,  and  let  deso 
iation  and  death  reign.      Rejection  en  earth,  (h;d"s  pro^ing 
ground,  is  eternal  rejection. 


PARI    FIFTH, 
'[he  Continuance  of  Affection. 

•'Then  he  said,  I  pray  thee  tlu'reforf,  father,  lh.it  thou  woulde.-t 
semi  him  to  my  father's  liou.e;  for  1  hive  five  hretliroii;  that  ht-  may 
ti'slify  unto  them,  lest  they  also  come  into  this  plac  of  torment." 
— -Sy.  Lu.ke  i6:2j  ami  3S. 

Mcii  luuc  drawn  very  diverse  conclusions  from  tlu-  rich 
man's  prayer  for  his  brotliers. 

Some  have  :ir(rued  that  the  prayer  is  iiicom[iatible  with 
total  depravity  ;  that  it  shows  a  residutim  of  love  which 
jjfives  <rround  for  hope  that  in  time  to  C(Mne  it  may  develop 
intti  something  hij^her  and  nobler,  into  h>ve  for  (Jod;  that 
tinder  the  moving  power  of  that  love  it  may  repent,  and  at 
tlie  last  be  literally  saved  by  the  fire    of    age-long    torment. 

Others  have  argued,  with  sadder  ingenuity, that  the  prayer 
of  the  rich  man  's  the  prayer  of  total  depravity;  that  it  no- 
where indicates  unselfish  care  for  others;  tluit  it  clearly  is 
the  petition  of  one  tha.t  fears  that  his  own  miserv  shall  be 
increased  by  the  eternal  reproaches  of  those  over  whom  he 
])ad  exercised  evil  influence  on  earth. 

It  is  overlooked  by  both  classes,  who  reach  sucli  dift'erent 
conclusions  from  the  common  assumption  that  total  dej)rav- 
itv  is  necessary  to  eternal  loss,  that  th'.-  assumption  on 
which  their  arguntents  are  reared  has  no  probability  in  its 
favor,  is  supported  by  no  analogy  of  nature,  is  not  deduci- 
ble  from  anv  revelation  from  God. 

Dead  Roots  ani>   D^  ing    11k  vnchks. 

Tiie  human  body  does  n!)t  need  to  be  tolallv    diseased    in 


DrvEs  AN'D  Lazakits. 


evcrv  part  and  incinher  thereof  before  death  sie/.es  it.  Men 
die  with  but  a  simple  vital  origan  diseased  and  with  every 
other  portion  of  the  body  perforniintj  its  functions  perfect- 
Iv.  Hut  the  fate  of  tliat  origan  u[)on  whicli  mortal  dis- 
ease has  seized  must  be  the  fate  of  all  the  members,  how- 
ever healthv,  in  vital  connection  with  it  ;  and  the  stricken 
organ  and  the  healthv  members,  wliich.  altogether,  consti- 
tute the  bodv,  sink  in  the  common  ruin  of  death.  And  as 
we  look  upon  the  dead  body  we  think,  "This  body  is  not 
dead  because  it  was  mortally  sick,  totallv  depraved,  in  all 
its  members.  It  is  dead,  and  its  healthv  members  are  dead, 
only  because  de  ith  overpowered  the  seat  of  life."' 

And  so  it  is  with  the  soul  that  leaves  the  dead  body. 
Death  does  not  work  in  it  a  miraculous  transformation  of 
character.  Death  simply  transfers  the  personal  soul  to  a 
new  sphere  of  action.  The  soul's  new  life  begins  exacllv 
where  the  old  life  ended.  Its  character  the  first  instant  of 
eternity  differs  inlinitesimally  from  its  character  the  last 
instant  of  time,  and  that  diBerence  is  but  the  ditYerence  tliat 
conies  in  the  growth  of  a  single  instant. 

The  test  question  would  not  be,  Is  tlicre  a  spark  of  af- 
fection still  living.-  The  test  cpiestion  is.  Is  the  s[)ark  of 
atTection  growing  brighter  or  colder.^  For  almost  if  not 
quite  ever)'  man  that  ever  went  into  eternity  had  some  spark 
of  good  in  him.  But  when  mortal  elisease  has  struck  the 
soul  the  few  remaining  possibilities  for  good  cannot  long 
exist  after  the  life-giving  power  is  gone  from  the  soul. 

It  would  be  hard  in  this  world  to  find  a  criminal  so  de- 
praved that  he  would  not  warn  others  to  escape  his  own 
fate.  Misery  does  not  love  company  for  its  own  sake.  An 
aniinal  when  sick  wants  solitude.  A  human  body  when 
sick  wants  quietude.      A  soul  when  sick  wants  to  be    away 


24  Dives  AM)  Lazaius. 


from  the  wliirl  of  biisincs>  and  pleasure-.      Aiul  so  with  tor- 
mented souls. 

The  criminal  tlial  dra;j;s  others  down  with  him  hv  cov- 
fession  or  false  accusation  does  so  either  fri)m  fancievl  in- 
jury,from  hope  of  g)od, or  from  vagiu  s.'ns,>  of  injustice  that 
he  should  sufl'er  while  others  equally  L^'uilty  shoulil  escape. 
r»ul  when  reven^v.  selfis'.iness,  fancied  injustice,  do  not 
urge  on  there  is  no  criminal  so  mean  as  not  to  warn  hi> 
loved  ones  or  his  confederates  tliat  lhe\'  mav  escape. 

l>ut  doi's  this  warnin-^  chan;^-e  the  crinn'nal's  characler.- 
llus  it  any  connection  whatevei*  with  the  crime  for  which 
he  is  to  sulVer.'  Doesit  ha\e  any  tendency  to  elevate  his 
moral  standartl,  and  to  make  him  more  thoULjhtful  of  prop- 
erty and  life  ? 

So  in  torment  shall  be  found  men  who.  wilh.out  ho]")e  lor 
themseKes.  shall  still  desire  that  their  kinch-ed  on  earth 
shall  not  come  to  the  same  place.  Men  '  do  not  become 
malignant  devils  the  moment  thev  feel  the  Jiangs  of  suiTer- 
ing  for  a  mis-sj)enl.  selfish,,  (jodless  lil~e; 

P'rom  the  thought  of  the  rich  man  in  torment  as  si  ill  car- 
ing, to  some  extent,  for  his  brothers  on  earth  we  are  ieatl 
on  to  two  other  teachings  inferred  trom  this. 

I)k<;kkks  ok  Pi  nishmknt. 

The  first  teaching  is  :  That  in  the  world  to  come  there 
are  degrees  of  punishment. 

This  teaching  is  elsewhere  explicity  made  by  Christ. 
when  he  speaks  of  some  as  being  jiunished  with  few  strijies 
ami  ol  hers  with  man\  . 

As  men  go  out  of  this  world,  so  thev  go  into  the  next  ;  to 
\arving  degrees  of  happiness  or  of    miser\  .      S(,me    forever 


Dives  and  Lazauus. 


separated  from  Christ  were  led  into  temptation,  and  sone 
were  the  leaders.  And  inasmuch  as  eternal  punishment  is 
not  arbitrary,  but  is  commensurate  with  character,  the 
memory  of  the  actively  malignant  will  be  more  heavily 
loaded  and  his  cons.'cjuent  remorse  more  bitter  than  the 
memory  and  the  remorse  of  him  who,  it  may  be,  lived  and 
died  "not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  The  punish- 
ment of  Caiaphas  is  greater  than  that  of  Pilate. 

"Thou  hast  destroyed  thyself"  is  God's  asseveration  to 
the  lost.  "Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also 
reap"  is  the  Apostolic  description  and  measure  of  any 
man's  destruction.  While  the  soul  exists  seed-time  and 
harvest  shall  not  fail.  In  eternity  a  man  will  reap  just  the 
same  kind  of  hell  that  he  sowed  on  earth,  and  he  will  reap 
as  much  of  that  kind  of  hell  as  is  proportionate  to  the 
amount  of  hell  he  sowed  on  earth.  The  man  who  despite 
the  greatest  opportunities  rejects  the  highest  good  shall 
reap  the  lowest  hell.  It  is  for  this  reason  that,  of  angels, 
Satan,  and,  of  men,  Judas,  stand  for  all  time  the  two 
supreme  exampleg  of  infinite  despair. 

How  much  each  man  that  has  crossed  the  limit  is  doing 
of  Satan's  seed-sowing  even  he  himself  cannot  teJl  now,  but 
when  he  wakes  in  torment  his  harvest  of  punishment  will 
declare  it  infallibly. 

Intercessory  Prayer  in  Paradise. 

The  second  inferential  teaching  fi-om  the  rich  man's 
cai'e  for  his  brothers  on  earth  is  :  That  if  the  lost  can  still 
care  for  us  much  more  do  the  redeemed  care  for  us. 

The  activities  of  Paradise  are  not  entirely  hidden  from 
us.  The  highest  of  earthly  Christian  duties  shall 
not  cease  there. 


26  Dives  and  La/Jaijus. 

The  blessed  dead  who  prayed  for  us  on  earth  still  pray 
for  us  in  Paradise. 

It  would  be  strange  if  they  did  not,  strange  that  the 
nearer  they  stand  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  clearer  their  in- 
sight into  God's  love,  the  less  they  should  pray  for  us  who 
they  know  are  so  easily  beset  with  sin. 

Every  loved  one  dead  in  the  Lord,  and  resting  from  his 
strivings  with  sin,  is  a  power  that  draws  us  closer  to  God; 
for  if  tlie  effectual,  fervent  prayer  of  a  righteous  man,  him- 
self compassed  with  infirmities  of  flesh  and  mind,  availeth 
much  uttered  from  earth,  much  more  will  his  prayer  avail 
when,  with  thousandfold  intensity,  it  is  uttered  in  the 
regions  of  the  Blessed. 

"More  things  are  wrought  bj-  prayer 
Than  this  world  dreams  of." 

They  that  thus  constantly  pray  for  us.  as  one  of  the  very 
conditions  of  their  own  unfettered  growth  in  the  knowledge 
and  love  of  God,  may  not  see  us  here,  and  may  not  know 
how  it  fares  with  us,  for  they  are  still  but  finite  beings,  A 
passing  friend  mav  tell  them.  Perchance,  (who  knows.'') 
the  blessed  Lord  himself  may  tell  them. 

They  may  hear  from  us,  but  we  cannot  in  this  world 
hear  from  them.  The  passing  is  all  in  one  direction.  W3 
know  not  how  far,  how  near,  they  be,  in  realms  of  space. 
But  one  thing  we  do  know,  unless  God-given  reason  plays 
us  false,  and  that  is,  that  the  love  of  those  whom  we  have 
loved  long  since  and  lost  awhile  never  weakens  in  intensity 
but  grows  more  effectual  for  our  good  with  the  passing 
years. 

"For  so  the  whole  round  earth  ir.  every  way 
Biund  by  g")ld  chiins  ab^ut  the  feet  of  God." 


PART  SIXTH. 


Evidence   and  Conviction. 

AVjrahani  saitli  unto  him,  They  have  Moses  and  the  Prophets;  let 
them  hear  them.  And  he  said,  Nay,  father  Al^raham:  but  if  one 
went  unto  them  from  the  dend,  the}'  will  repent.  And  he  said  unto 
him.  If  the}'  hear  not  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  neither  will  they  be 
persuaded,  though  one  rose  from  th.-  d^ad. — S/.  Liikc  16: 2g — j/. 

The  parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus  does  not  have  to  do  mere- 
ly with  the  condition  of  souls  :ii  the  Intermediate  State.  It 
has  to  do  with  their  condition  in  this  world. 

The  rich  man's  ])lea  for  his  brethren  still  living  on  earth 
brings  our  thoughts  back  from  the  future,  to  theconditions  of 
present  life.     All  is  over  with  Dives,     His  doom  is  sealed. 

But  what  about  his  brethren?  How  can  living  men  be  per- 
suaded? How  is  it  possible  for  them  to  learn  the  truth,  and 
learn  it  fo  that  it  shall  become  a  constant  force  in  their  lives 
that  selfishness  has  hell  as  its  inevitable  end? 

Two  answers  have  aWays  found  favor.  Their  correctness 
is  indicated  by  their  origin.  The  voice  from  the  place  of  tor- 
ment cries  out  for  a  miracle,  that  one  should  rise  from  the 
dead.  The  voice  of  our  spiritual  father,  Abraham,  asserts 
that  miracles  do  not  convince  where  the  ordinary  testimony 
appealing  to  reason  is  still  neglected. 

The  Impotence  of  Mir.vcles. 

Will  a  miracle  convince  the  incredulous,  and  turn  the  sinner 
to  repentance?  Will  the  greatest  of  miracles,  the  return  from 
the  dead,  change  the  moral  nature  of  living  men? 

The  Phc-irisees  seemed  to  think  that  it  would.  "What  si^n 
showest   thou?"    they   asked  of  Him    whose    authoritv    was 


^8  Dives  and  Lazarus. 


plainly  enough  manifested  by  his  moral  suhlimitv. 

And  the  same  question  is  asked  by  men  today.  "If  there  be 
a  life  after  death."  they  say,  "a  eonscious  personal  existence, 
eternal  life  with  tjod  for  the  good, and  everlasting  [)unishment 
in  hell  for  the  wicked,  let  us  have  some  positive  proof.  Let 
one  rise  lrf)m  the  dead  and  give  us  that  testimonv  of  experi- 
enc-.'  which  is  our  only  ground  for  belief." 

It  is  intimated  in  tliis  demand  that  such  a  miracle  will 
leave  no  loop-hole  of  escape  from  belief;  and  that  insufficic  iCy 
of  proof  and  devotion  to  truth  are  the  (mly  obstacles  to  faith. 

Yet  the  experience  of  ages  does  not  bear  out  this  conten- 
tion. 

The  many  miracles  that  Moses  wrought  in  the  Egyptiatk 
court  afitected  Pharoah  but  for  the  moment;  and  after  each 
one,  and  after  all,  the  steadfast  j  urpose  of  his  heart  remained 
unchanged. 

The  only  beneficiaries  of  these  miracles,  the  people  cho.sen  of 
G(m1,  saw  the  water  bursting  from  the  rock,  fed  upon  the  an- 
gels' food  that  came  down  from  he.iven,  and  rejoiced  at  going 
dry  sliod  through  the  waves  that  overwhelmed  their  oppress- 
ors; but  so  little  were  thev  affected  at  heart  by  these  wonder- 
ful works  that  they  rebelled  ag  linst  their  leader,  murmured 
against  their  God,  and  for  generation  after  generation  mani- 
fested a  well-nigh  ineradicable  love  for  the  lascivious  idolatry 
of  the  surrounding  herthen. 

Jesus  raided  one  whom  he  lf)ved,  the  brother  of  Mary  and 
Martha,  from  the  dead;  and  tiiough  one  did  come  back  from 
the  dead  the  chief  efitcct  on  the  unbelieving  Jews  was  that  they 
sought  to  kill  both  Lazarus  and  Jesus. 

Christ  himself  came  back  from  the  dead;  and  the  result  de- 
monstrated the  truth  of  his  words  in  the  parable  as  spoken  by 
Abraham;     "If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  neither 


Dives  and  Lazarus.  29 

will  they  be  jX'rsuadetl,thou<j;h  one  should  rise  from  the  dead." 

And  this  failure  of  miracles  to  convert  is  nothing  remarka- 
ble. Miracles  do  not  touch  the  heart.  When  Christ  wrought 
wonderful  cures  the  people  did  not  conffss  their  sins;  they 
brought  other  sick  for  him  to  heal.  To  their  minds,  untrained 
but  full  of  the  unformulated  fundamentals  ot  philosophy, 
Christ's  healing  ot  the  sick  proved — what?  That  he  had  won- 
derful power  to  heal  the  sick. 

As  the  supremelv  wise  Man,  Christ  could  not  trust  the  con- 
version of  men  to  the  effect  produced  in  their  minds  b_\  that 
break  in  the  observed  order  of  cause  and  effect  which  we 
term  miracle;  for  each  man  would  question  with  himself  the 
truth  of  wh.'it  he  had  seen,  and  take  refuge  in  an}'  of  the  half- 
score  plausible  explanations  that  presented  themselves.  Even 
if  convinced  his  conviction  would  satisfy  oily  himself;  God 
would  be  compelled  to  repeat  miracles  for  every  man's  con- 
version (and  thus  overthrow  for  all  time  the  strongest  natu- 
ral evidence  of  his  power,  intelligence,  and  love — the  stability 
of  nature),  or  men  would  be  compelled  to  take  the  miracle  at 
second-hand,  and  thus  after  all,  rely  on  the  accounts  gi .  en  by 
others. 

It  was  not  miracles  but  parables  that  Christ  relied  upon  to 
convict  men  of  sin,  righteousness,  and  judgment.  "Without  a 
parable  spake  he  not  unto  them." 

The  miracle  startled  men;  the  parable  convinced  them. 

The  miracle  made  them  question  the  permanence  of  cause 
and  effect  in  nature;  the  parable  taught  them  the  unity  of  the 
natural  and  the  spiritual  and  the  fixedness  of  their  laws  under 
one  Law-Giver.  The  storv  of  a  little  ewe-lamb  brought  living 
waters  out  of  David's  stony  heart,  which  a  year  of  signs 
could  not  touch.  The  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  has  con- 
verted   manv    a   man  that  sees  nothing:  but  natural  causes  at 


30  Dives  and  Lazakus. 


\v4)rl<  in  the  rise  find  fall  of  nations,  and  the  crash  of  falling 
thrones  and  the  iiprcaring  of  new  dynasties  in  state  and  in- 
tellect. 

Miracles  confirm  a  faitli  already  living,  hut  it  never  calls 
unbelief  to  life.  One  has  come  back  from  the  dead,  but  men 
whose  lives  are  centered  on  other  than  what  he  commanded 
and  commended  still  refuse  to  believe. 

Miracles,  the  greatest  of  miracles,  will  not  do  that  wliich 
existing  revelation  fails  to  accomplish. 

TiiK  Testimony  of  Revelation. 

Christ  said  through  Abraham's  words  in  this  paral)le  that 
"Moses  and  the  Prophets" — what  we  term  the  Canon  of  the 
Old  Testament — \Nere  sufficient  witness  to  anv  man  of  the 
blessed  and  the  sad  realities  of  the  life  after  death.  A  fortiori, 
the  testimony  ot  the  New  Testament  superadded  to  the  0  d 
must  be  sufficient  proof. 

This  assertion  of  Christ's  teaches  us  two  things: 

i.st.    The  authority  of  the  Old  Testament. 

2ncJ.   The  sufficiency  of  Scripture  for  Salv.'-ition. 

1st.  It  is  a  wide-spread  tendency  among  Christians  as  well 
as  unbelievers  to  belittle  the  authority  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  most  radical  view  is  that  it  is  nothing  but  a  national 
encyclopedia  of  histor\^  .science,  and  poetry.  The  least  de- 
structive of  erroneous  views  is  that  the  Old  Testament  is, 
so  to  speak,  a  back-number  of  Inspiration  ;  that  it  is  now 
shoved  entirely  aside  by  the  fuller  development  of  the  New  ; 
that  it  was  good  enough  for  those  who  lived  in  the  semi- 
obscurity  of  Judaism, but  is  utterly  unworthy  of  serious  con- 
sideration in  these  days  of  the  man-indwelling  Spirit. 

We  look  in  vain  for  any  w^ord  of  Christ's  or  of  his  Apos- 
tles' that  teaches  other  than  the  absolute  equality  of  Old  and 
New  Testaments.      "They  have  Moses  and    the     Prophets; 


Dives  and  Lazarus.  31 


let  them  hear  them,"  is  Christ's  own  attestation  of  their 
full  authority.  "They  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto 
salvation,"  was  St.  Paul's  testimony  of  their  sufficiency. 
And  the  testimony  of  Biblical  experts  is  that  one  of  the 
surest  demonstratio-ns  of  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity 
would  be  cast  out  should  we  disregard  that  testimony  of 
prophecy  from  Moses  to  Malachi  to  which  St.  Peter  bids  us 
take  heed  t'll  the  day  star  rise  in  our  own  hearts. 

2nd.  It  flows  from  this  that  all  Holy  Scripture  contains 
everything  th  it  men  need  to  know  for  their  eternal  safety. 
In  the  Bible  the  humblest  individual  finds  all  that  is  reveal- 
ed to  the  wisest  scholar  of  God's  will  and  purpose. 

Men  may  read  it  wrongly  and  get  erroneous  views  and 
frightful  errors  from  it.  They  frequently  do.  But  if  they 
need  that  calmer  and  better  balanced  and  more  thoroughly 
equipped  minds  shall  open  up  the  Scriptures  for  them,  as 
Philip  opened  them  for  the  Ethiopian  treasurer,  they  yet 
have  the  original  befoi^e  them  and  human  reason  within 
them,  and  by  the  conjoining  of  the  two  are  able  to  discern 
whether  the  explanation  of  man  has  made  God's  word  of 
none  effect. 

The  internal  evidence  of  Scripture  to  its  authority  suf 
fices  for  all  but  the  prejudiced  ;  for  whom  no  proof  is  pos- 
sible. Its  harmony  with  human  reason  testifies  to  its  truth- 
fulness about  future  existence.  As  we  read  the  works  of 
Shakespeare  we  exclaim  "It  is  the  revelation  of  a  genius." 
As  we  read  the  Sacred  Scripture  we  exclaim.  "It  is  a  voice 
of  God';3." 

THE  END. 


DATE  DUE 


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f 

.^r-^^ 

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^^^^^"'^ 

DEMCO  38-297 


SS24l8.W57fi 


'   ^012  00067 


8849 


